Tips to Keep Your Furnace Running While HVAC Companies are Busy with Repairs

DES MOINES, Iowa -- It's all hands-on-deck for heating and cooling companies around the metro, they're working long hours to keep up with the needed repairs. Bell Brothers Heating and Air Conditioning have responded to over 350 calls for service during the recent cold snap.

“They pretty much keep us busy from eight to five and most of the time we're happy if we get home by eight” said technician Erin Krueger.

Krueger’s boss, Bell Brothers President Jason Gassmann, says the weather has made work a grind for his team.

Our guys are working 10, 12-hour days. Our on-call staff, they came in this morning. Two of them were out all night long, basically saw us for breakfast this morning, so they had run calls all night long taking care of customers” said Gassmann.

Customers like Mike Sparks, who woke up yesterday morning to a chilly home. The furnace stopped working, and he knew it was only a matter of time before pipes started to freeze.

“It wasn't that cold quite yet so I wasn't worried about that yet, but I knew it was going to get there so I had to call them right away” said Sparks.

He called Bell Brothers Thursday morning and they had a technician out early in the afternoon. The problem? The filter was restricting airflow and caused the furnace to overheat; a common occurrence this time of year.

“If the filter's marginal, a little bit dirty, some dirt accumulated in the blower assembly it just causes them to overheat and trip what we call the limit, and when it's this cold the furnace just can’t keep up” said Bell Brothers Service Manager Steve Terry.

Another common cause of overheating is snow build up near the exterior air intake. Snow can pile up and prevent air from flowing in. Bell Brothers recommends checking your vents to make sure they're clear. They say if you're heat goes out and you're waiting for service, try cycling the power.

“If they're having an issue, go ahead, hit that switch leave it off for about 10 seconds, turn it back on. You can kind of think of it as resetting your modem at home or your computer, and hopefully if you get lucky it'll come on and give you a little bit of heat to get you through until that service provider can get out there” said Terry.

Technicians say you should get your system checked out once a year to avoid any internal issues.